


A Lovely Night

by JayTyHeyBye



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Angst with a Happy Ending, F/M, Fluff, Homelessness, Hurt/Comfort, Keith is homeless, La La Land, Lance works at a soup kitchen, M/M, Panic Attacks, Tumblr Prompt, background shallura - Freeform, they sing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-20
Updated: 2017-02-20
Packaged: 2018-09-25 18:47:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,678
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9838748
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JayTyHeyBye/pseuds/JayTyHeyBye
Summary: “When we found him, he put up one hell of a fight to try and get away. I don’t think leaving him here, unsupervised, would be the best idea.”They fell silent for a moment, and Lance knew that Allura was struggling to find a solution.“Is there any way he can stay with us-”“He can stay with me?” Lance blurted out before he could stop himself, almost dropping a little girl’s bowl of soup, “I have an extra bedroom in my apartment, and I have food and stuff!”





	

Lance’s mother had always taught him to be generous and considerate of others. He knew how to look after pretty much anyone, and had babysat more times than he could actually count. Lance had always been a people person. Every Sunday, he would go down and volunteer at a soup kitchen for as long as they needed him. The woman in charge, Allura, always gave him a serving or two to take home afterwards. 

She was a sweet lady. He could be himself around her. Sometimes, he would get her to talk about her home life. From what he knew, she had no children, but she lived with her brother. Their father had died when they were teenagers, and it had been them ever since. 

The pair were stationed behind the main counter, Lance holding a ladle and an empty bowl when the main doors opened. 

Allura’s husband, Shiro, came in, his hand resting on the back of a teenage boy who appeared to be Lance’s age. He was wrapped in a blanket that Shiro had most likely given him, and despite being across the room, Lance could see the tired bags under the boy’s eyes, as well as the smudges of dirt on his neck and cheeks. The boy’s long, black hair was knotted and messy, and Lance could just barely make out all the rips and tears in the red jacket he was wearing. 

Shiro escorted the boy to a table, and had him sit down. He knelt beside his chair, and Lance finally noticed that Allura had left his side. She was kneeling next to Shiro now, and in front of the boy. She wore her usual warm smile, but when she went to place a hand on the boy’s knee, he flinched away as though her touch physically burnt him. Allura’s smile faltered only for a moment, until Shiro pulled her to her feet, pulling her away, closer to Lance.

The boy seemed to notice there were more than two sets of eyes on him, because suddenly Lance saw that their eyes had met. The eyes staring back into his seemed almost purple, and Lance could have sworn his heart skipped a beat. Despite the state he was in, he was attractive. He had to stop himself from pouting when the boy looked away, but it gave him a chance to listen to Shiro and Allura’s whispers.

“Where did you find him?”

“Behind the High School.”

“Garrison?” 

Shiro nodded. Lance served a nice old woman some soup, and continued to listen.

“I don’t know when the last time he ate was, Allura. I had to carry the boy to the car, and he was as light as a little kid.”

Allura frowned. Lance served a middle aged man with a smile, though he wasn’t paying attention to him.

“I’ll see if we can get an extra cot set up for him tonight.”

“When we found him, he put up one hell of a fight to try and get away. I don’t think leaving him here, unsupervised, would be the best idea.”

They fell silent for a moment, and Lance knew that Allura was struggling to find a solution.

“Is there any way he can stay with us-”

“He can stay with me?” Lance blurted out before he could stop himself, almost dropping a little girl’s bowl of soup, “I have an extra bedroom in my apartment, and I have food and stuff!”

Allura frowned. Shiro looked uneasy.

“Lance, I don’t know if that’s a good idea.”

“You just said that you guys would take him in. Why is that any more of a better idea?”

Shiro sighed, his arms crossing. 

“I’m also the chief of police, Lance. If something happens, I can handle it. If he puts up a fight, you won’t be able to stop him.”

Lance rolled his eyes, grabbing an empty bowl and he poured a hefty amount of soup into it.

“I have six brothers and sisters in total. I think I can handle looking after him for a little while!” He smiled, and before Shiro and Allura could protest, he was making his way across the room to the boy. “Watch!”

Once he got to the boy’s table, he cleared his throat. The boy lifted his head, his eyes locking again with Lance’s. Lance took a sharp breath, before he took the empty seat beside the boy he now realized was shivering. Placing the soup and a spoon in front of him, he gave the boy a smile. It wasn’t returned. He stared down at the soup, still silent. Lance rolled his eyes.

“It’s not poisoned, relax.”

“I won’t be able to finish it. It’ll go to waste.”

His voice was softer than Lance had imagined it to be, but he sounded tired nonetheless. His eyes didn’t leave the bowl of soup, but Lance now noticed that he was holding the spoon, as if he had been ready to dig right in.

“Would it make you feel better if we shared?”

The boy didn’t answer for a long while, but Lance already knew the answer.

“I’ll be right back then.” He smiled. He was only gone for a moment to get another spoon, then took his seat back down beside the boy. 

Lance was the first to dig into the soup, and he let out a silent breath of relief when the boy next to him started to do the same thing. At least he was eating. Lance ended up eating most of it, as the boy only seemed to be able to stomach a couple of mouthfuls before he put his spoon down, and tugged the blanket further around him. 

“Are you cold?”

Lance didn’t wait for a response, tugging off his jacket. He momentarily moved the blanket, replacing it with his green jacket to wrap around his shoulders, then let the blanket rest on top. When he moved back, he saw wide eyes staring back at him.

“You were shaking.”

“I know.”

“You’re welcome.” Lance flashed his signature smile, but no smile was returned, yet again. Lance didn’t mind. They would take their time. He glanced back to Shiro and Allura, who were watching him in awe. He wondered if Shiro had gotten the boy to talk this much on the car ride over to the soup kitchen.

“I’m Lance, by the way. I figure I should tell you that, since we’re going to be roomies.”

“We’re-what?”

“Roomies! Y’know, roommates? You’re going to be living with me for a little while!”

blueish eyes narrowed.

“I don’t even know you, and-” He began, raising his voice, but when his eyes looked passed Lance’s head, the kid shut his mouth. Lance didn’t turn around, but he could sense Shiro’s look of warning from all the way across the room.

“Don’t worry. I’ve got a bed for you, and fresh food, and anything you could ever need.”

The boy didn’t answer verbally. He only nodded, seeming to momentarily shut down. Lance had to bite back a frown. Part of him hoped the boy wasn’t always like this, but the majority of him knew that opening up to someone new took time. Not everyone was as easygoing as he was. 

He slowly stood up, and gave the boy a smile.

“Ready to go?”

The boy looked up at him.

“Go where?”

“My apartment, Mullet-Brain.” Lance huffed teasingly, his arms crossing. That seemed to do it, because the boy shrugged off the blanket and stood up. However, he kept the jacket on.

“Who said I ever wanted to go to your apartment, assface?” He snapped, and Lance gave Shiro a look of _I’ve Got This_ when he saw the man taking a step forward. Lance simply smirked.

“You did, just a second ago.”

The boy’s shoulders sagged, and he seemed to give up. He finally nodded, and Lance pulled off the apron around his waist, draping it over the back of his chair. Allura took the hint, because she moved to grab it, while Lance put a hand on the boy’s back to guide him towards the doors. 

The boy tensed, but didn’t pull away as Lance had expected him to. It was only when they got out to the parking lot and Lance was opening the door for the boy, that he spoke again.

“Keith.”

Lance paused, looking back down at the boy.

“What?”

“My name is Keith.”

Lance couldn’t stop the wide smile from crossing his face. 

It was a start.

 

The first few weeks were hard. Keith barely slept or ate, and spent most of his time locked away in the guest room, only allowing himself to leave when he needed to pee or shower. Lance had taken to leaving Keith’s meals outside his door, having given up on getting him to come and eat at the table with him. 

He would come back later to find only bits and pieces of the food had been nibbled at, and Lance’s heart would sink. Shiro had been right. This wasn’t easy.

It was dinner, and Lance had made spaghetti. The boy made a mean spaghetti. He knocked on Keith’s door, as per usual, and he sighed.

“I’m leaving your dinner outside the door, Keith. Spaghetti tonight.” He called through the door. When he was greeted back with silence, he left.

Lance settled down at the dinner table, starting to dig into his own food. 

He only lifted his head when Keith slowly sat down across from him, his own bowl of food in front of him.

Keith was the first one to speak this time.

“The spaghetti isn’t nearly as bad as your eggs.”

Lance barked out a laugh, and he could have sworn he saw a smile cross Keith’s face.

 

After two months, Lance and Keith had more or less become friends. Keith spent less and less time in his room, and had started eating full meals. Lance was positively tickled by the entire situation. He had made sure to rub it in Shiro’s face multiple times, about how he had ‘nursed Keith back to health’.

He had to go down to the soup kitchen today, but Keith stayed back at the apartment. He had told Lance he was tired, but Lance knew he most likely didn’t feel comfortable leaving the apartment. 

He had only been gone for a couple of hours, and when he got home, Lance was whistling. He unlocked the front door and let himself in, already smiling like an idiot.

“Keith! You won’t believe what Allura told me today, I couldn’t stop laughing.” He was greeted with no response, snarky or otherwise. He frowned. “Keith?”

The boy kicked off his shoes and properly entered the apartment. He could see the bathroom light on, though the door was mostly closed. Lance felt a sinking feeling flood through his stomach, and he made it to the bathroom in three long strides.

He knocked softly on the door. He knew better than to just barge in. 

“Keith? Everything alright?”

It was only when he heard a sob that he pushed open the door.

Keith was on his knees on the floor, surrounded by shards of broken glass. Lance quickly took in how his hand was bleeding, and his eyes widened. Keith had his head buried in his hands.

“Keith? Jesus, what happened?” 

Keith let out a noise that made Lance’s heart break. 

“I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.”

Lance moved to pick up the pieces of glass, then knelt down in front of Keith. He softly shushed him as he managed to move his hands away from his tear stained face. He clicked his tongue quietly, reaching up to grab one of the hand towels from the counter. He went to wrap it in Keith’s hand for the time being, but Keith flinched.

“Hey now, it’s alright. You’re alright.” He murmured, and Keith finally let him wrap up his hand. Lance managed to wipe the smeared blood off of Keith’s face, before he pulled the boy into a hug. Keith only struggled for a moment before he seemed to give up, openly sobbing into Lance’s shoulder. 

All Lance could do was hold him, his hand moving in circles against his back, while his other hand rested on the back of Keith’s head.

It took Keith a little while to calm down, but when he did, he sniffled and lifted his head. Lance waited for him to speak first.

“’m sorry.”

“Do you want to talk about what happened?”

Keith swallowed the lump in his throat, avoiding eye contact. 

“I broke your glass.” He whispered, but Lance didn’t seem to understand. Keith frowned, shifting uncomfortably, but continued, “I-I don’t want you to kick me out.”

Lance could feel his heart breaking in his chest. He pulled Keith in for another hug, which was gladly returned. 

“I’m not going to kick you out, Keith. You live here just as much as I do. It’s just a glass, okay? No big deal. It happens.”

He heard Keith sniffle.

“Yeah?”

“Yeah.”

They sat in silence for a moment, but Lance was the one to break it this time. He pulled away so he could look Keith in the eyes, which were red and bloodshot.  
“Let’s get your hand cleaned up, Mullet-Brain.”

He saw a smirk tug at the corners of Keith’s mouth.

It took all of his willpower not to bend down and kiss him.

Wait, what?

 

Keith had been the one to suggest they go on a walk by the pier. Lance had jumped on the opportunity, a wide smile on his face. 

They came to a halt at the end of the pier, and Lance hung half his body over the railing to look at the water. Lance’s smile hadn’t left his face since they left the apartment. 

Keith approached him, moving to stand beside him, shoving his hands into his pockets.

Lance straightened up, and Keith seemed to notice his expression, because his eyes widened.

“Don’t you dare-”

“The sun is going down-”

“No La La Land. I hated that movie-”

“The lights are turning on, a silver shine that stretches to the sea-”

“I will walk home, Lance-”

Lance grabbed ahold of Keith’s hands, spinning him around in a circle. Keith groaned. Lance continued.

“We’ve stumbled on a view that’s tailor made for two, what a shame those two are you and me!”

Lance wasn’t even singing. He was just speaking the words. Keith must have zoned out, because Lance had skipped an entire section.

“...This could never be, you’re not the type for me-”

“Really, Lance?”

“And there’s not a spark in sight, what a waste of a lovely night!”

They fell silent. Keith could see in Lance’s eyes that he was waiting for him to continue. Keith raised his eyebrows.

“Lance-”

“Please, Keith?”

“You’re killing me.”

“Please be Mia?”

Keith rolled his eyes, mumbling his response. The fact he knew the lyrics made him shudder.

“You say there’s nothing here, well, let’s make something clear, I think I’ll be the one to make that call!”

The biggest shit eating grin crossed Lance’s face, and a blush rose to Keith’s cheeks.

“So you’ll call-”

Keith mumbled for a moment, forgetting the words. Lance hummed the tune so Keith could keep up, and Keith couldn’t help but smile.

“You’re right, I’d never fall for you at all! And...” Keith trailed off again, so Lance tried to prompt him. It took Keith another long moment before he could remember the next verse, “But, I’m frankly feeling nothing-”

“Is that so?”

“Or it could be less than nothing-”

“Good to know-”

They had stopped walking, and they were now just standing there, staring at each other. Keith knew it was his turn, but he couldn’t find the words. Lance stepped towards him, continuing for him.

“So you agree?”

“That’s right-”

“What a waste-” Keith didn’t let Lance finish, pressing their lips together.

If this was how Keith intended to end the song, maybe he'd have to sing more often.

**Author's Note:**

> Feel free to follow me on tumblr!  
> @Subject-to-feels


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